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Lawsuits by Retired NFL Players Cause Jump in Trademark Filings

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse: “The latest available data from the federal courts show that during September 2014 the government reported 705 new trademark lawsuits. This number is up 145 percent over the previous month and up 32.2 percent from a year ago. Most of the increase appears to be due to cases filed by retired football players who alleged that the NFL used their likenesses to generate income without their permission or compensation. Over 450 such cases were filed in district court in Minnesota in September, more than all trademark lawsuits in any month in the last five years.Relative to population, Minnesota led the nation with 86.8 trademark lawsuits filed per one million people, compared with 2.2 such cases filed per million for the United States as a whole. Second was the Southern District of Florida with 3.0 suits per million, followed by Nevada with 2.9 per million. For the full report, including a five-year timeline and top district rankings, go to: http://trac.syr.edu/tracreports/civil/367/

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